Current commercial mobile satellite communication systems having conventional multiple beam architectures, which use multi-beam phased array antennas, incorporate digital beam forming (DBF) techniques. DBF phased array antennas are very useful in forming multiple simultaneous beams covering a large field of view (FOV).
Typical mobile satellite payloads have a DBF phase array antenna. The phase array antenna includes a plurality of receive array elements for receiving communication signals. Each receive array element is connected to several components for signal-conditioning the communication signals prior to connecting to a digital beam forming network. The receive array elements are connected to a plurality of low noise amplifiers (LNAs), by which the received signal is amplified. The LNAs are connected to a plurality of downconverters. The downconverters convert a high frequency received signal to an analog baseband or intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The analog baseband signal is then transformed into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter.
Additionally to properly select a sideband in frequency downconversion, satellite payloads usually include a plurality of filters, between the plurality of downconverters and the plurality of A/D converters. The filter helps to eliminate undesired signals and noise in frequency ranges outside of a desired frequency band. The undesired signals may cause aliasing, which can cause interference with the desired signal.
Currently the downconverters are used to convert mobile signals at frequency bands below C-band, down to baseband. In the future, as technology progresses, different downconverters and possibly corresponding filters will be needed to convert signals for other applications in higher frequency bands such as the super high frequency band (SHF), KU band, and extremely high frequency (EHF) band. Unfortunately, increasing satellite communication system versatility, ability to downconvert, and filter higher frequency bands with larger bandwidths increases electronic component count, and system complexity, therefore, increasing cost.
In satellite communication systems there is a continuing effort to decrease the amount of components in the system thereby decreasing the size and weight of the system, decreasing hardware, decreasing costs, decreasing power consumption, and increasing efficiency.
In space systems, where up to thousands of receiving array elements may be used, a reduction in satellite payload components may cause tremendous savings. In other terrestrial communication systems, in which many receive array elements are used the savings in cost, weight, and power will also be increased.
Therefore a need exists to reduce the number of components in the mobile satellite payload. Also a need exists to produce a satellite payload for other applications that is capable of converting signals to digital format at carrier frequency.